A mathematics professor for four decades, Jacqueline Brannon Giles was born in Houston, Texas when a Jim Crow system of segregation of African Americans existed. In her home State, Blacks were excluded from the formal political system until passage of Federal Civil Rights Legislation in the mid-1960s. When she was an undergraduate student majoring in mathematics, she wanted to be a mathematician so she could think strategically and strive to overcome barriers and hindrances to her growth and personal development.

In 1966, she earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Texas Southern University - Houston, Texas and later enrolled for another Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics at Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, New York, graduating in 1969.

Jacqueline began her career as a math lecturer first at the State University of New York, Stony Brook Urban Center in Manhattan, and later the Borough of Manhattan Community College.

While in New York, she also worked at the Theresa Hotel in Harlem, and on Wall Street in New York City where she became politically astute. She was actively involved in the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), a democratic, voluntary federation of national and international labor unions representing millions of working people.

In the 1980s, Jacqueline returned to Houston as a lecturer of mathematics at Texas A & M University, College Station, and Houston Community College where she still lectures.  A mathematician who seeks to impart knowledge in academia and other spheres of society, Jacqueline has attended numerous national and international mathematics conferences including the 1993 colloquium with the Citizens Ambassador Program in Moscow at a time when the Kremlin was in turmoil, going through enormous transformations.

In 2000, she travelled with President William Jefferson Clinton in an entourage uniquely selected for the inauguration of President Oluṣẹgun Ọbasanjọ in Nigeria. The delegation later traversed Arusha, Tanzania and Cairo, Egypt. A year later at the invitation of a Nigerian Think Tank, she presented a research paper on “Mathematics and Democracy” near Aso Rock in Abuja, Nigeria.

A senior mathematics advisor, Jacqueline has played a significant academic leadership role in advancing mathematics as one of the most important subjects with a huge scope in every field of life - medicine, engineering, finance, natural science, and economics (not exclusively).

For many years, she was a member of the Board of Governors - Mathematics Association of America; member of the Board of Directors - National Association of Mathematicians (NAM) and member of the NAM/MAA Math Values editorial Board from 2019 to present. She is also a senior writer who has published several articles in FOCUS magazine (MAA), the National Association of Mathematicians newsletter, STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Technology), and the National Science Foundation, Reviewer - Noyce Proposals.

Mindful that mathematics is the science and study of quality, structure, space, change and is all around us, in everything we do, Jacqueline has dedicated her life seeking out patterns, and formulating new conjectures to yield solutions to major issues like racial inequality.

Proud recipient of NAM Lifetime Achievement Award and Honoree, Mathematically Gifted and Black 2017, Jacqueline holds a Master in Pure Mathematics from Texas A & M University College Station, Texas, master’s in mathematics - Secondary Education, from Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas; Doctoral Studies, Interdisciplinary Engineering, Texas A & M University, College; and Doctorate studies in Mathematics from Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas.

An ordained Minister, she holds a Master of Theological Studies from Houston Graduate School of Theology, Houston, Texas and currently pursuing a Doctorate in Theology from Houston Graduate School of Theology, Houston, Texas.

As Steering Committee Chair, Jacqueline conduct meetings according to the agenda, whilst ensuring decisions or recommendations are adequately resolved and agreed to by the team. She will also liaise with institutions and former colonial powers who gained historic wealth and fortune over the heads of colored folks, ensuring they respond meaningfully.